Record package



April 1955 o. E. HEUSMANN 3,180,488

RECORD PACKAGE Filed July 11, 1962 Fink/mews,

3,180,488 RECORD PACKAGE Otto E. Heusrnann, 528 Rosewood Lane, Kirkwood,Mo. Filed July 11, 1962, Ser. No. 209,014

1 Claim. '(Cl; 206- 62) This invention'relates to packages of phonographrecords. V

Phonograph' records'commonly are sold in substantiallyflatcardboardcontainers, open along one edge, and variously called'jackets', folders, pockets,- sleeves and albums. These sleeves provideprotection against dust and scratching and, because they are fairlyrigid, tend alsoto protect the record against warpage; In addition,

they are ordinarily imprinted with the-title of the record and acolorful design or illustration. Accordingly, it is desirable tokeep'the sleeve: Howeven'beca'use they are extremely thin, there isgenerally no provisionmade-forprinting the titles along an edge,'so'that if the'sleeves are stacked horizontally or even arranged inrows, face to face, vertically, it is difiicult to find a particularrecord. Additionally, if they are carried around from place to place,they are somewhat inconvenient to carry and are likely to be misplacedor lost.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a package ofphonograph records which utilizes the standard sleeves, which preservesthe integrity of the sleeves, and which makes it easy to assemble aselected group of records in a package which is not substantiallyheavier or more bulky than the collection of individual sleeves.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a package which isinexpensive, and easy to manufacture and use.

Still another object is to provide such a package in which little if anyof the art work on the sleeve is obsoured, and in which the sleeves canbe so arranged as to expose the various individual titles on a broadface of the sleeve.

Other objects will become apparent to those skilled in the art in thelight of the following description and accompanying drawing.

In accordance with this invention, generally stated, a record package isprovided which includes a plurality of standard sleeves, each of whichhas secured to it along one closed edge a tape with a marginal spineextending transversely beyond the edge. Each of the spines has along itslength, outboard of the sleeve, a multiplicity of tine-receiving holes,through which a plurality of tines extend. The tines form a part of aback member, which is so arranged as to permit the insertion of tines inthe holes and their removal therefrom. The tines and the holes are soconstructed in proportion to one another as to permit a hinging movementof the individual sleeves along the tines.

In the preferred embodiment, the back and tines extend longitudinallybeyond at least one end of the spine of one of the sleeves, andsuccessive sleeves are staggered longitudinally with respect to oneanother along the back, to expose a top margin of each sleeve.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a view in front elevation of one embodiment of package ofthis invention;

FIGURE 2 is an exploded view in perspective, partly broken away, ofcomponents of the package of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a view in front elevation, partly broken away, of anotherembodiment of package of this invention;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of FIGURE 3; and

FIGURE 5 is a view in side elevation of the package shown in FIGURE 3.

Patented Apr. 27," 1965 Refer'ringc'now to the drawing for anillustrative embodiment of this invention, reference numeral 1 indicatesa complete package which includes sleeves 2, 3 and 4 (and in FIGURE" 5',2', 3' and 4), a tape- 15, and a back 25.

Each-of the sleeves has a front panel 5, a back panel 6, a closeditopedge 7, a closed bottomedge-S, an open side edgeLor mouth 9, a closedside-edge 10 and a title 11 parallel'with'the closed :topedge 7 A record12, is held in the sleeve 4 by friction.-

Thetape 15; in the preferred embodimenh'is bifurcated,

with'leg strips. '16 'a'nd'1'7 coated ontheir inside surfaces with anadhesive, which; in this embodiment, is water soluble; but which may be?of the pressure sensitive type, I

and a spineitl. -The"spine has=in it a multiplicity of aligned holes 19,whichjin this embodiment, are '-of a relatively long and thinrectangular configuration.

The back 25, in this embo'dimentg-includes :a plastic rib 26-witha'multiplicityof flexible, thin, curved tines 27,.

integral at one end with the rib 26, and a shape 30. In this embodiment,the shape 30 is curved in transverse section, and has along each edge achannel 31 with a restricted mouth 32, into which an offset head 33 onthe rib 26, on one side, and on the respective ends of the individualtines 27 on the other, extend. The rib 26 with its tines 27 and theshape 30 are readily separable and removable so that sleeves can bemounted and removed easily. The particular back illustrated anddescribed is a commercial product, and is not, per se, a part of thisinvention.

The two legs 16 and 17 are adhered to the closed side edge 10 of thesleeve 4.

In FIGURE 1, the shape 30 is shown as mounted on the interior side of abook spine 34 between leaves 35 of a book-cover.

As shown in both FIGURES 1 and 3, the back and tines extend lengthwisebeyond the lower edge of the uppermost sleeve, so that successivesleeves can be and are staggered, revealing the titles on the sleeves.If there are more sleeves than can be accommodated in staggered relationfacing one way, as for example, six sleeves which must be staggered intwo groups of three, they can either be arranged to require the firstgroup to be turned, or merely to require that the pack be turned over,since the side opening of the pockets makes it immaterial whether thetop edge is up or down. This is illustrated in FIGURES 3 and 5.

The tape 15 can be made of any suitable material. A cloth tape,preferably with a stitfening piece along the spine, is entirelysatisfactory, but paper, plastic and leather have been found operative,and the latter can make an elegant binding.

The holes along the spine of the tape can be made in any desiredconfiguration, complementary to the shape of the tines. While thearrangement of a multiplicity of closely, regularly spaced thin,flexible tines is preferred and has niunerous advantages, otherarrangements of tines, diiferent forms of tines and tines of differentdegrees of stiffness may be used.

The coverless back of FIGURE 3 is particularly appealing to youngsterswho want to assemble party packs of rpm. records. For the more expensivealbums, the covered embodiment of FIGURE 1 is more likely, but eitherembodiment can be used for any sized record.

A back and pre-punched, pro-cut tapes can be packaged together and soldin record shops and the like in which case the record-sleeve package canbe made up by the purchaser, or, of course, the record-sleeve packagecan be made up by manufacturers, distributors or retailers of records.In any event, the record-sleeve package is easy to manufacture and formsa neat, handy device by which selected records can be kept together,transported and stored, without obscuring the art work on the madepermanently mounted on theback, by making the back parts inseparable,but this is not by any means preferred.

Having thus describedthe'invention, what is claimed and desired to besecured by Letters Patent isz' v A package comprising a multiplicityofirecord sleeves each having a front, a back, a closedt'op, a closedbottom, one closed side edge and an open side edge, each sleeve havingsecured to it along said closed side edge a tape with a marginal spineextending transversely, beyond the said closed edge, said spine havingalong it, outboard of said sleeve, a multiplicity of tine-receivingholes, and a back member carrying a plurality oftines spaced comple-' Vmentarily to holes in said spine and extending therethrough, said tinesbeing shaped to slidably-mount said sleeves, for movement along saidtines, with respect 'to one another, said back and tines extendinglongitudinally beyond at least one end of the spine, said sleeves beingTHERON E. CONDON, l rimary'Examiner.

divided into tWo groups, the sleeves of one group having their frontpanels oriented in one direction and said member to expose a front topmargin of each sleeve of the group, and the sleeves of' the other group'being oriented in back to back and upside down relationship With thesleeves of the first group and staggered along said back to expose afront, top margin of each sleeveof the group when the package is turnedover.

References Cited in the file of this patent i UNITED STATES PATENTSMayhew Q. Aug. 7,1917

1,255,690 Barlow Feb. 5, 1918 7 2,259,787 .Trussell Oct. 21, 19412,264,142 Penny et a1 Nov. 25, 1941 2,274,944 Trussell Mar. 3, 19422,463,450 Wisner Mar. 1, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS V 466,094 Canada June 27,195 0 7 553,256 Belgium Dec. 31, 1956 sleeves being staggeredlongitudinally along said back EARLE DRUMMOND, Exan z'mzr.v

